Photo courtesy of University of VirginiaChase Minnifield is following in the footsteps of his father, Frank, as a top cornerback at the University of Virginia.

Frank Minnifield's son is nothing like him, according to the former Browns cornerback. Chase is taller, for starters, with three inches on the elder's 5-9 frame.

Chase might be more athletically gifted, too, snagging six interceptions -- fifth nationally -- last season for Virginia.

Not to mention that Chase grew up around the game in a way few others have, heard his father woofing at the Dawg Pound before he was out of diapers, still hears his dad barking at fans every time he travels to Cleveland.

But, perhaps most of all, Chase is smarter than his father ever was on the football field.

"I'm not going to say there were absolutely no cerebral thoughts on how to play the game, but it was more physical, in your face," Frank Minnifield said of his days with the Browns from 1984 to '92.

"I was going to be a bigger, tougher football player than you. Sometimes I learned something from the films, but if I didn't, I was still going to try to beat you up on the field.

"Chase is an extremely smart kid -- you don't have to tell him anything twice. He probably plays a more cerebral game than I did."

Like father, like son? Not really.

Chase Minnifield has done everything he can to be like his father. He excelled in baseball and football as a child but chose the sport in which his dad earned four Pro Bowl appearances with the Browns. He even plays the same position, cornerback.

His dad got up at 5 a.m. for individual distance runs before the rest of his team practiced. So does Chase. He works hard, is competitive at everything from workouts to Monopoly, and is projected to be a high pick in next year's NFL Draft after opting to stay at Virginia for his final season, despite earning his bachelor's degree in 31/2 years.

Like father, like son? No question.

"I definitely wouldn't be in the position I'm in now without him," Chase Minnifield said.

Chase Minnifield's position is that of Virginia's only returning all-ACC player, a cornerback who had six interceptions last season and never really considered entering the NFL Draft even though he was projected to be a late second-round or third-round pick.

In many ways, he's his father's son. Both have a reputation as a tough cornerback with a knack for getting in the way of opponents' passes. But in other ways, he's a completely new version of Minnifield, one who studies the game with the diligent precision of a seasoned pro. That's Frank Minnifield's influence passed down, of course, after a nine-year career in the NFL.

Together, the two will watch film via Skype, analyzing Chase's play each game during the season. The younger Minnifield will chart receiver routes and plays in an Excel spreadsheet. The Minnifields will look for patterns, try to optimize Chase's skills and help him to predict and understand what his opponents will do when and why.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm coaching him," Frank Minnifield said via phone from his home in Lexington, Ky. "I'm more of a technician."

Said Chase: "He's a Pro Bowl corner. He gives his perspective of the game, just his knowledge, his techniques on some things. To have a resource like that, you can't let that go."

Chase is currently projected to be a first- or second-round draft selection. But that's before his final season with Virginia, which finished 4-8 last season. It's Chase Minnifield's final chance to prove that he's NFL-ready, to "win" this competition in who might be the best Minnifield cornerback.

"He cannot do anything without making it a competition," Frank Minnifield said. "I don't care what it is. That's the reason why he's so good in school, because he turns school into a competition with all the classroom. If we're eating, he wants to see who's going to finish first. If we're driving down the street by ourselves, he wants to see who can count the most license plates from Ohio. We can be reading a book, he wants to start the clock to see who's going to get to the next chapter first."

Frank Minnifield paused, and across the phone, a soft chuckle bubbled.

"I hope he got that part from me," he said. "That's a good characteristic to have."

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